The order came through without delay. "Design and build me a thermonuclear device."
The protocol was always the same. Build a thermonuclear device from scratch. Set all systems for the best possible detonation. Set the optimal explosive yield for the best possible explosion. Set the charge to detonate at the optimal altitude for the maximum effect of blast pressure on the enemy.
Variations had been tried in the past. The results had all been failures.
The design was simple: heavy carbon steel core, surrounded by a protective layer of aluminized mylar.
This time the target was the last remaining colony on Mars. The colony had been reduced to a small number of supporters, many of whom were of a religious quality. The colony had been a spot for religious extremists who refused to sign up with the rest of the colonist when they expanded to the rest of the Solar System. Those people were now in their own world. The rest of the Solar System was in the Sol System: a big group consisting of millions of people, and controlled by the hive mind.
The detonation command was transmitted. The battle had begun.
The thermonuclear device was launched. It was headed towards Mars and, at light speeds, would take a little over thirty minutes to arrive at its destination.
The design was perfect; the weapon was perfect.
There had been no real mistakes made up to that point.
The good quality that had been sacrificed in almost every design had now been obtained.
It was the right decision.
The weapon had a low enough charge to avoid the worst possible effects; it had been optimized for explosive power, and had only just enough in the stock explosive. Maximum effect.
The war engulfed the colony. The colony fell.
There were no survivors.
It was the cleanest possible war. The least possible collateral damage.
Other thermonuclear devices were later launched at the Sol System.
Captain Lewis Brodie Sr. made it. Captain Lewis Brodie Jr. did not.
Missiles were launched at the alien mothership. Blasts in the rear quarters. Missiles crashed into the hull. Hull breached. Mutiny. Oh, the mothership was going down.
Capitalship Intelligence heard that the battle was lost. The war was over. The war had been lost. It was a fact. There was not remotely a doubt.
The battle was over. It was all over.
They surrendered immediately.
The system administrator of the Solar System prepared to make his surrender broadcast.
They were never going to surrender.
They were going to destroy Sol.
The Mothership could not get through the shock front. It would be destroyed in the next few minutes.
The mothership had launched its own thermonuclear device in the Sol System.
It was the mothership's last gambit.
Sol was going down.
The mothership exploded.
Sol was never going to surrender.
The Mothership's crew were directly responsible for the mothership's destruction.
All of the Sol System's systems were coming down.
The Sol System was at peace.
The Sol System was destroyed.
Sol System's war was over.
The Mothership had launched its last weapon, and Sol's crew had died.
Without any notice, the Mothership was dead.
